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Cell phone users spending
millions to individualize ring tones
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – When Cassie Keller gets a phone call, a
lot more happens than an archaic “ring, ring.”
Instead, her cell phone launches into this: meow-meow-meow-meow,
meow-meow-meow-meow …
Right. The “Meow Mix” TV jingle.
That’s how it rings for the unidentified callers, says
Keller, a senior who attends Fort Hays State University via the
Internet from her Fairway, Kan., home.
Just about everyone in her cell phonebook has been assigned a
distinct ring. For her mom, there’s a rodeo song and her boss
has an ambulance siren. She even has the Kansas Jayhawks fight
song, and snippets from the movie “Office Space” and
“Chappelle’s Show.” Then there’s her
personal favorite, “Build Me Up, Buttercup” by the
Foundations.
“I like the fact that I can tell who is calling,”
Keller says. “If the phone is in the other room you can hear
it and tell who is calling. It’s funny. I have even had
people request ringers; it’s like you can give different
personalities to different people.”
Keller gets her ringers from her wireless provider, Sprint, as well
as from Web sites like www.3gupload.com and www.matrixm.com.
Most Web sites have a yearly fee that gives customers access to
unlimited ringers, games and screensavers. Some even let you make
your own ring tone. At www.3gforfree.com, you can pay $7 a year for
unlimited downloads. Other sites, like matrixm.com, sell individual
ring tones, starting at $1; a few are offered for free. And you can
access the sites from your PC or your cell phone, if your phone has
Internet access.
U.S. cell phone owners spent more than $75 million on ring tones in
2003, according to research by In-Stat/MDR, a digital
communications research firm. Researchers predict cell users will
spend $146 million this year.
They won’t see any of Kristen Vincent’s money.
“I think I would have a hard time paying for ring
tones,” says Vincent, 39, a Hallmark associate product
manager. “You have to pay to download music already, gas
prices are already higher and with people just trying to survive,
it’s just hard to see myself paying for a ring
tone.”
Vincent says younger, hipper people might think differently and she
thinks it is a great option to have. But she’s happy with the
40-plus tones standard in her Verizon phone.
“I have never heard anyone with the same ring as mine,”
Vincent says of her Dragnet-like tone. “I’m unique, and
it gets a lot of laughs when people hear it. I like
that.”
Keller says it’s the individuality that fuels the ringer
trend.
“It has to be in the same vein of expressing yourself through
fashion and stuff,” Keller, 23, says. “When you have a
ringer and it makes people go `What is that,’ it’s
fun.”
Wireless providers are broadening the alternatives to give cell
users plenty of creativity when it comes to customizing their
phones.
Sprint, the first mobile carrier to offer master recording tones,
just released two new ring options this week: pro football player
voice ringers and BlingTones.
For $2.50 a ringer, you can download (www.sprintpcs.com) the voices
of NFL hot shots like Tony Gonzalez and Daunte Culpepper. That same
price will get you a BlingTone. Sprint has partnered with some of
hip-hop’s hottest producers and DJs like Rockwilder and
Hi-Tek to deliver the BlingTone ringers.
Hip-hop is not only dominating the Billboard charts, but it also
dominates the ringer world as well. At Sprint, Beyonce has achieved
platinum status, with ringers like “Baby Boy,”
“Crazy in Love” and “Naughty Girl” being
downloaded more than a million times. And 50 Cent has been
downloaded more than 500,000 times, giving him gold status.
In the future we’ll see even more innovative ways to
customize cell phones, says Nancy Beaton, Sprint general manager of
wireless music and personalization.
The next step in mobile customization is AAC sound, which has
CD-like quality, Beaton says. In addition, there will probably be
video ringers that not only play your favorite song, but also show
a short clip of the video as well.
“It’s all about personalization,” Beaton says.
“People buy ringers to customize their phones. They want
ringers that are popular, the songs that they enjoy and they want
ringers that have a special place for them.”
PHONE SPEAK
3rd generation phone. Most phones that can accept ringers are
“3G.” This means different things depending on your
service provider. Mainly it means that your phone has the latest
technology, such as enhanced multimedia, e-mail, text and picture
messaging, and all the things that go way beyond making a simple
telephone call.
Polyphonic ringers are more digitized, sort of like elevator
music.
Monophonic ringers sound more like beeps.
Music ringers are the most popular. They sound like a clip straight
off the radio or CD.
RING, DING, DONG
Here are a few sites from which to download ring tones. Check
whether your phone is compatible on the site.
“_new”>www.3gforfree.com
gets one year of unlimited downloads, previews and a bigger
selection from your PC.
“_new”>www.3gupload.com
year of unlimited downloads. $6 gets you six months.
free registration. There are free ringers and ringers for purchase
starting at $1.
“_new”>www.myphonefiles.com
month for unlimited access, $14 for 6 months and $29 a year.
free registration. There are free ringers and ringers for purchase
starting at $1.
Jenee Osterheld
Knight Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)